Rejection

‘Then the owner of the vineyard said, “What shall I do? I will send my own dear son; surely they will respect him!” But when the tenants saw him, they said to one another, “This is the owner’s son. Let’s kill him, and his property will be ours!” So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

‘What, then, will the owner of the vineyard do to the tenants?’ Jesus asked. ‘He will come and kill those men, and hand the vineyard over to other tenants.’ (verses 13-16a)

Read Luke 20: 9-19

Have you ever been rejected by someone? It’s devastating, isn’t it?

Imagine how the owner of the vineyard in this story felt. He was rejected by his tenants, and not just once. Three of his servants were rejected. That in itself would have sparked an incident in today’s world. The owner showed infinite patience before sending his son. When his son was killed it was the final straw for him. By that time the tenants had lost all possibility of any consideration or mercy. The owner was now ready to have them killed and new tenants recruited. What would you have done had you been the owner of the vineyard?

The people of Jesus’ day would have been under no illusion about what this story meant. The image of Israel as a vineyard, of which God was the owner, was common. The leaders of the nation had rejected the prophets. God had shown infinite patience towards his people. Now he was sending his Son, but they were rejecting him also. They wanted to kill him.

God shows infinite patience in his dealings with us. He sends us pastors, teachers and leaders. How do we receive them? How do we receive his own dear Son? Australia is now considered to be a non-Christian country. How much longer will God have patience with us before he gives up on us? The warnings are urgent.

Dear Father, help us to heed the warnings you give us. Help us to accept you as our God and Jesus as our Saviour. Help us also to warn those who reject your Son. Amen.

by Merna Thamm, in ‘Guidance for each Day’ (LCA, Openbook, 2002)

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